And in order to "be successful" in Amway, I would have had to give up all the things in my life that were and are central to who I am--my faith, my family, my friends, my writing, my music--in order to "show the plan" five or six nights a week.

In short, it was not worth it.

When I started community college, I had a female friend who asked me to go with her to a Life Springs event. She was younger than I was and did not have any direction. In contrast, I took leave of absence from my full time job with Hewlett Packard to get my engineering degree so I could advance professionally. The LS spin doctors tried to convince me that I needed to drop out of school and commit myself to LS so I could "realize my dreams." I told him I was already busy realizing my dreams and I wasn't going to let him or LS get in my way.

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"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

Anybody know about those other party sales companies? I have a couple of friends who seem to be doing something called "31." And then of course there's Pampered Chef, and now Usbourne books is doing it, too. Do the party sales count as MLMs? Just curious. I have a few things from Pampered Chef because people have gone to the parties and bought me things. I love Usbourne books, but I'd rather buy off Amazon.

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Emily is 8 years old! 1/07Jenny is 6 years old! 10/08Charlotte is 4 years old! 8/10Megan is 2 years old! 10/12Lydia is 4 months old! 12/14

They share the characteristics of promising vendors more than can ever be achieved. And they oversaturate their markets and the vast majority of people won't make any money. The real test of an MLM is how hard is a vendor pushed to sign up more vendors.

Pampered Chef is kinda midway, Cutco is pretty close to an MLM, Mary Kay not so much.

Anybody know about those other party sales companies? I have a couple of friends who seem to be doing something called "31." And then of course there's Pampered Chef, and now Usbourne books is doing it, too. Do the party sales count as MLMs? Just curious. I have a few things from Pampered Chef because people have gone to the parties and bought me things. I love Usbourne books, but I'd rather buy off Amazon.

Yes, they're MLMs, but IME they're not as obsessed with the downline as others may be.

Some MLMs are more focused on products; others are more focused on adding others to the downline, attending seminars (that you pay for) and buying books (that you pay for.) I'm also wary of MLMs that peddle miracle cures. I've seen too many people go broke trying to buy their miracle.

Years ago, I was at a coworker's house (we were also kind of friends) and she showed my a catalog of furniture and said she and her husband were going "into business for themselves." Then she played some motivational tapes with some guy telling the listener/members how they can get to "diamond" status and have all the money they deserve (you can hear a large audience cheering in the background). This coworker told me it's not a pyramid scheme because she knows about those and this is not it. I don't remember what the company is called.

I think you've hit on what I really don't like about MLMs. They are the cause of so many awkward conversations. For instance, I was having some health concerns, and my neighbor came over to ask how I was doing. She sounded very interested and sympathetic, and then she launched into a discussion of this awesome juice she sells and how it cures everything. I was left wondering if she really cared how I felt, or if she just wanted to sell me some juice.

They share the characteristics of promising vendors more than can ever be achieved. And they oversaturate their markets and the vast majority of people won't make any money. The real test of an MLM is how hard is a vendor pushed to sign up more vendors.

Pampered Chef is kinda midway, Cutco is pretty close to an MLM, Mary Kay not so much.

Really? I always thought Mary Kay was a classic example of an MLM. Anyone I have ever encountered who was involved with it seemed to be as interested in recruiting as in selling cosmetics.

They share the characteristics of promising vendors more than can ever be achieved. And they oversaturate their markets and the vast majority of people won't make any money. The real test of an MLM is how hard is a vendor pushed to sign up more vendors.

Pampered Chef is kinda midway, Cutco is pretty close to an MLM, Mary Kay not so much.

Really? I always thought Mary Kay was a classic example of an MLM. Anyone I have ever encountered who was involved with it seemed to be as interested in recruiting as in selling cosmetics.

Could just be differing experiences, I've known about 5 sellers, and none of them were interested in signing me up, or really in doing anything other then ordering for themselves, and you know, if you want something let me know, I'll place an order in a week or so . . . it was just a side line for them.

I didn't get the impression that the Mary Kay organisation pushed the downstream recruiting, but maybe I have mostly known people too laid back to care

They share the characteristics of promising vendors more than can ever be achieved. And they oversaturate their markets and the vast majority of people won't make any money. The real test of an MLM is how hard is a vendor pushed to sign up more vendors.

Pampered Chef is kinda midway, Cutco is pretty close to an MLM, Mary Kay not so much.

Really? I always thought Mary Kay was a classic example of an MLM. Anyone I have ever encountered who was involved with it seemed to be as interested in recruiting as in selling cosmetics.

Could just be differing experiences, I've known about 5 sellers, and none of them were interested in signing me up, or really in doing anything other then ordering for themselves, and you know, if you want something let me know, I'll place an order in a week or so . . . it was just a side line for them.

I didn't get the impression that the Mary Kay organisation pushed the downstream recruiting, but maybe I have mostly known people too laid back to care

I think that this is key.I've known people who have a 'personal account' to sell Amway--as in, they and 2 or 3 of their friends want the laundry soap so one of them 'officially' is a seller and supplies and no one is ever pushy. So the exact opposite of what I consider the 'typical' Amway person.I've also known avon/mary kay/etc people who fit both ends of the spectrum.(IME, I've found more Mary Kay people who push pink kool-aid than not, but that may just be the luck of my draw. Although thepinktruth.com ssays that it may not be that unusual)

They share the characteristics of promising vendors more than can ever be achieved. And they oversaturate their markets and the vast majority of people won't make any money. The real test of an MLM is how hard is a vendor pushed to sign up more vendors.

Pampered Chef is kinda midway, Cutco is pretty close to an MLM, Mary Kay not so much.

Really? I always thought Mary Kay was a classic example of an MLM. Anyone I have ever encountered who was involved with it seemed to be as interested in recruiting as in selling cosmetics.

It absolutely IS an MLM. I know someone who nearly lost EVERYTHING because of Mary Kay. It's one of the worst, IMO.

I'm kind of iffy about MLM - everyone I know now who sells got into more to order their own stuff and score the occassional freebie. I used to "sell" melaluca just to order for myself. I would place orders for other people when they asked me about it, I was never about the "sell sell sell" push that everyone else seemed to be. No one ever pushed me to recruit either.

I was briefly in MK. It is definitely an MLM. The emphasis is on how much the MK "consultant" orders to keep well stocked, not so much on how much he/she sells. Each person above the consultant gets a percentage of the value of whatever he/she orders. And heavy emphasis on recruiting.

I have bought several "31" bags and really like them. I have not had any kind of pushiness from their people.

Our neighbors' names are Fred and RuthHe wears a lot of leisure suitsShe sells AvonandTupperware too,We're always ducking all the bull they shoot

I never thought the reason they were shooting bull was BECAUSE they were selling Avon and Tupperware....

Now I'm curious about Avon and Tupperware, which haven't been mentioned in this thread yet.

For a long time it seems like those were the products famously sold by people (especially women) who didn't have regular jobs. Now the song was written back in the 70s. Maybe the market wasn't saturated then?